Michael Chiesa says he’s changing things up ahead of his showdown with Anthony Pettis. On April 7, Chiesa will do battle with Pettis inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The bout will be part of the UFC 223 card. Chiesa will be looking to …
Michael Chiesa says he’s changing things up ahead of his showdown with Anthony Pettis. On April 7, Chiesa will do battle with Pettis inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The bout will be part of the UFC 223 card. Chiesa will be looking to rebound from a submission loss to Kevin Lee. During a […]
An intriguing lightweight bout appears to be close to finalized for UFC 223. ESPN was first to report the news that Anthony Pettis and Michael Chiesa have both verbally agreed to meet at the April 7 pay-per-view event scheduled for the Barclays Center …
An intriguing lightweight bout appears to be close to finalized for UFC 223. ESPN was first to report the news that Anthony Pettis and Michael Chiesa have both verbally agreed to meet at the April 7 pay-per-view event scheduled for the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Pettis and Chiesa are both coming off of […]
Former Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Chiesa has signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC. Chiesa had one fight remaining on his most recent contract, but opted to sign a new deal. He is not currently scheduled for a fight after falling to Kevin Lee in June via submission. Since his appearing on TUF 15, […]
Former Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Chiesa has signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC. Chiesa had one fight remaining on his most recent contract, but opted to sign a new deal. He is not currently scheduled for a fight after falling to Kevin Lee in June via submission. Since his appearing on TUF 15, […]
With almost everyone else injured or tied up, Dustin Poirier has his sights set on former UFC lightweight champ Pettis or Michael Chiesa Poirier spoke with BJPenn.com about his immediate future, while being realistic about his options: “You know I was hoping for a top-five opponent,” he explained. “But if I can’t get that, then […]
With almost everyone else injured or tied up, Dustin Poirier has his sights set on former UFC lightweight champ Pettis or Michael Chiesa Poirier spoke with BJPenn.com about his immediate future, while being realistic about his options: “You know I was hoping for a top-five opponent,” he explained. “But if I can’t get that, then […]
Lightweight Michael Chiesa may have lost the appeal of his submission loss to Kevin Lee in the main event of June 25’s UFC Fight Night 12, but “Maverick” clearly isn’t going to let it go – at least for now. So much so that Chiesa appeared on yesterday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” with Ariel […]
Lightweight Michael Chiesa may have lost the appeal of his submission loss to Kevin Lee in the main event of June 25’s UFC Fight Night 12, but “Maverick” clearly isn’t going to let it go – at least for now.
So much so that Chiesa appeared on yesterday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani to challenge Mario Yamasaki, the referee who made what many feel was an early call-off of the bout, to a grappling challenge at the Onnit Invitational on September 30 to prove his skills on the mat:
“I would like to test his fifth degree black belt in a friendly grappling match and let’s see if he’s what he says he is. And I’m not saying it in a hostile way, I’m saying, ‘hey, if you’re a fifth degree black belt, you should back up for the decisions you made.’ As a martial artist myself, that’s my open challenge to him, to headline Onnit Invitational on Sept. 30.”
The longtime referee was then contacted by MMA Fighting for a response, and said there was simply no other way to call the fight without allowing Chiesa to go out further:
“I saw the moment he went out. He can complain, but there’s no other way. The athletic commission already reviewed it, there’s nothing more to say. … (The commission) contacted me, I explained what I saw and he explains what he saw and felt. They watched the fight in slow motion and didn’t find anything wrong.
“It would have been a lot easier to let him go out longer, but my job is to defend his integrity when he’s no longer doing it for himself.”
Sean Pokorny-USA TODAY Sports
That’s always going to be for debate, but the most disappointing thing about the situation was that it muddied a signature win for Lee because of a referee’s decision, and that of a referee who has been under heated criticism for the extreme degree of inconsistency he has displayed in stopping high-profile bouts lately.
Thats lead Chiesa – and many others – to call for Yamasaki to stop refereeing top-level MMA bouts, yet for some reason, he still keeps getting the very best high-profile fights. Hopefully he can defend the fighters’ safety on a consistent basis, but as far as the challenge from Chiesa, Yamasaki believes “Maverick” made a silly callout and is just looking for more facetime in the media.
With that said, however, Yamasaki did say he was willing to face Chiesa at one of his 10 academies if given some time to train:
“I’m 53 years old, I don’t train anymore, how am I going to do this?” Yamasaki said. “And what’s the point of him fighting me? What would that change? What does he want to prove? It’s childish. Even if he catches me or if I catch him, that won’t change anything that happened in his fight. What is he trying to prove?
“If he gives me some time to train, I’d grapple with him,” he added. “Tell him to come to my academy, no problem. I have 10 academies in the United States, he can come any time he wants.
“What is he trying to prove? That’s what I wanna know,” the referee said. “What would that change? He wants media, and he already had media.”
Tonight at UFC Vegas 43, Michael Chiesa will have his hands full with 14-0 Sean Brady. Four years ago, he wanted to compete against referee Mario Yamasaki instead. The following article from four years ago details why. It is presen…
[MMA NEWS ARCHIVES]
Tonight at UFC Vegas 43, Michael Chiesa will have his hands full with 14-0 Sean Brady. Four years ago, he wanted to compete against referee Mario Yamasaki instead. The following article from four years ago details why. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 24, 2017, 7:23 PM]
Michael Chiesa hasn’t gotten over his controversial UFC Fight Night 112 submission loss.
Even though he appeared to be fading in a rear-naked choke applied by Kevin Lee, Chiesa didn’t tap or go limp. Referee Mario Yamasaki saw the hand fighting stop and put an end to the bout.
During a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com’s “The MMA Hour,” Chiesa issued a challenge to Yamasaki:
“Onnit is having an invitational on Sept. 30, so this is my open challenge to Yamasaki. I would like to test his fifth degree black belt in a friendly grappling match and let’s see if he’s what he says he is. And I’m not saying it in a hostile way, I’m saying, ‘hey, if you’re a fifth degree black belt, you should back up for the decisions you made.’ As a martial artist myself, that’s my open challenge to him, to headline Onnit Invitational on Sept. 30.”
He went on to say that Yamasaki may have regressed in his position.
“I know he’s a fifth degree black belt and that’s all fine and dandy, but that doesn’t mean he’s a fifth degree black belt in officiating. I feel like he’s fallen behind a little bit, and I think it’s sad when a referee walks into your room and you and your teammates are looking at each other like, ‘oh shit, we got this guy’. I like the work of Herb Dean, “Big” John, Dan Miragliotta, and I think the best ref in the business is Josh Rosenthal, but unfortunately we can’t have him. It sucks when an official walks into your room and you’re like, ‘crap,’ and it’s just a crappy feeling.”
